A Story
by ChasingTheLight
Summary: Growing up is always hard, but it's not meant to be this hard. Being a teenager with ninja powers in a modern day world? Pain in the arse. Finding out ninja's are being killed mysteriously? Not good. Not at all. OC&AU, Please R&R.


Chapter 1

"Ryuu!" the teacher called sharply over the noise of the packed classroom. "What on earth do you think you're doing?!"

Caught in the act, the black-haired teenager stopped trying to climb out the window at the back of the classroom, and slid back into his chair, leaning it back on two legs. When the teacher turned back to the blackboard, he threw the older man a scornful look and laughed with his friends. 'Another supply teacher. This is gonna be too easy,' he thought.

"And wipe that smirk off your face. I can still see you."

Ryuu's eyes narrowed; he hated being told what to do. He reached down, below his desk and into his schoolbag, His sister, Asuka, caught his movement out of the corner of her eye and grabbed hold of his arm. "No, brother! Don't! You can't use it," she said quickly in Japanese.

He half-turned, then sighed and nodded, taking his hand back out of his bag and leaving alone the object he had been going for. Instead he reached for his pencil, glancing at Asuka with a cheeky look on his face. She sighed and rolled her eyes (at least the one that was visible), then nodded resignedly.

"Ryuu," whispered a girl behind them.

The Japanese teenager turned around and cocked his eyebrows at her. "What is it, Libby?" he asked.

"Quit it, give the teacher a break!" she scolded.

"Pfft, whatever. Algebra sucks," he replied.

"Ryuu..." came a quiet voice from Asuka. The only person he would listen to was his twin sister Asuka. She looked into his face with a pleading eye, the left one covered by her customary eyepatch.

"Fine, whatever," he said bluntly.

Libby looked upon the twins with an approving look in her pale blue eyes. She smiled at the connection they had with each other. They may have been as different as chalk and cheese, but that only made their relationship stronger. Asuka calmed Ryuu down and told him to think things through, and Ryuu taught Asuka to stand up for herself. Even then, the two often had to intervene in situations; Ryuu beat up anyone who crossed his sister and Asuka had to constantly tell Ryuu off for his antics.

Libby pushed back her light-brown hair from her eyes and brushed down her school shirt, then looked up as the classroom door opened. A member of the Senior Management Team stepped in, followed by an unfamiliar boy. The class quietened down quickly, taking an immediate interest in the new boy who was standing in the doorway. Rather than staring like everyone else in the room, Libby, Ryuu and Asuka eyed him suspiciously; they could feel a strange energy radiating from him.

The boy was quite tall, but well built, not skinny. He had jet-black hair which hung down around his ears in scruffy spikes; hovering over the top of his right eye was a fringe that was partly dyed red, and emerald green eyes which seemed to draw your gaze. When he turned his head, Libby noticed a small scar on his left eyebrow, but this didn't detract from his otherwise handsome face. In fact, the scar almost added to this effect, as though it was sending a message: _dangerous_. He had a serious expression on his face as he examined the room and its occupants. Libby, Ryuu and Asuka looked at each other, almost worried, knowing that he would be sitting with them: the only spare seat in the room was next to Libby. Despite being in the same room as the rest of the class, and sitting within two metres of their neighbours, the three couldn't feel more distant from their fellow pupils.

Since the very start of their time at school, all three of them had been labelled 'misfits', the 'weird ones', not because they wore outlandish dress or had different views. In fact, just looking at the three, you would have thought they were entirely normal. However, something _did _set them apart from the other kids: the secret power of Chakra which ran through their veins, allowing them to achieve impossible feats of strength, speed and even magic.

Asuka was the most unique, with a white Byakugan eye beneath her eyepatch, the only eye which was affected by her strange inheritance. None of the other students (apart from her friends and brother) knew about it, but there was _something_ about her presence which scared people. And in the same way, there was something about this boy's presence which seemed to only worry the three 'misfits'. The other pupils seemed unfazed, probably because of his good looks.

"Okay, class," started the female member of Senior Management. "This is a new pupil, his name is Alec Galloway and I expect you all to welcome him and make him feel comfortable."

"Yes, Miss," chimed the class of 25 Maths pupils. The woman turned and walked out of the door, leaving the new boy standing alone.

"Okay. Alec. If you could go and sit next to Libby over there, please. I'm Mr Marshall, you'll see me walking around school and I might be cover-teaching some of your other lessons too." Alec just nodded at the young teacher and proceeded down the lines of two-man desks. As he walked past them, people whispered; girls whispered, "He's _fit_," and giggled with their friends, and boys stared him down, like something on the sole of their shoe. He could hear mutters of "Unlucky!" and inappropriate laughter as he slung his backpack onto the floor and took his seat beside Libby. Asuka and Ryuu turned around to get a look at him, but Alec paid no attention and simply stared into the distance.

After 15 minutes of silence between the four of them, Ryuu turned around again and said to Alec, "Are you just gonna sit there and do nothing?"

The black haired boy glanced up from his untouched maths book for a moment. "Do I _have _to do something?" he replied bluntly.

The knuckles of Ryuu's hand, which was holding his pencil, turned white as he clenched his fist. Asuka touched his arm and Libby poked him in the back with her pen.

"Calm down, Ryuu, for heaven's sake!"

"Well I can't help it if he's a prat!"

"I'm a prat, am I?" Alec muttered under his breath. No one heard what he said, which was probably for the best.

"Just shut up, Ryuu," Libby ordered.

"Fine, whatever. I'll get him later..." he conceded with bad grace, turning back around. Libby rolled her eyes, Asuka sighed and Alec just smirked slightly; somehow, he thought not.

--------------------

Lunchtime, and everyone in Years 10 and 11 were in their lunch-hall talking and eating. The noise was incredible, enough to deafen you if you spent too much time there. Ryuu, Asuka and Libby sat in their corner at the far end, eating and watching Alec being surrounded by the 'popular' kids. During this lunchtime, he would be judged as to whether he would be allowed to join their set. If he did or said something wrong, his school life would be made into a living hell; this was the cruel truth of it.

"Grrr...Look at him, sucking up to Marty," said Ryuu angrily.

Libby looked over Ryuu's shoulder and saw the complete opposite to that statement. Marty Fox had been Ryuu's best friend until Ryuu was effectively 'chucked out' of their friendship group. Right now, Marty was playfully hitting Alec on his arm, joking and laughing. Alec was just standing there, taking no notice.

"You sure? I think it might be the other way around..." said Asuka.

"Heya!" A shrill squeal rang across the room. The three looked round and saw Julie Simms dashing towards them through the crowd. She was, in a way, the odd one out in the group, being the only one with blonde hair, the gorgeous looks and the fashion sense to top it all off.

"Hello, Julie," Asuka greeted her.

Not far behind Julie was Blaine. He was tall, the tallest in the group being a towering six foot one, but not exactly the skinniest guy you'll ever meet, instead he was muscly and strong. His head was covered by a mop of brown hair, his skin covered with freckles. As he and Julie joined the group in their corner, he jerked his thumb back over his shoulder and asked, "Who's _that _guy?"

"New kid. He's in our class," Libby answered, elbowing Ryuu in the ribs as he muttered something indistinct.

"Oh, is that Alec?" Julie glanced back at him.

"You _know _him?" Ryuu turned to stare at her.

"No, I don't!...I just heard a few rumours that there was gonna be a new kid called Alec at school this year," she protested, cringing away from Ryuu's glare. He seemed to accept her excuse and looked away, uninterested. When he was out of earshot, Julie whispered to Libby, "What's up with Ryuu?"

"He doesn't like Alec, because he couldn't intimidate him when they first met, and Alec's getting all the attention at the moment, so Ryuu's jealous." Libby chuckled.

Julie giggled in return, then looked back at Alec from across the hall.

"Oh... He's so _hot_..."

Oh Jesus Christ, not another one...' thought Libby, pulling her displeased face.

Hey! I know that face! Don't deny it, you think he's gorgeous as well..." she said, smirking

Umm... No, actually." Libby replied smirking

"You're kidding me right?"

"Nope, I'm pretty sure I'm not."

Julie elbowed Libby gently in the arm and they shared a look of understanding and shook their heads, turning back to finish their sandwiches and starting a new conversation.

When the bell rang, everyone started slowly leaving the hall for their next lesson. Leaving the room, however, meant that they all had to walk past the group of 'popular kids' who were standing by the door. As Libby walked past, behind the others, Marty stuck his foot out and she tripped, the contents of her bag flying in all directions. The other group howled with laughter as she stumbled around, her face burning with embarrassment, trying to pick up her things. Of course, she could have done it much more quickly and easily with her Chakra, but she'd been forbidden to use those techniques at school. Asuka and the others were waiting outside the door, restraining Ryuu from going back in and pounding Marty to a pulp. Libby ran outside, clutching her things, and dumped everything on the floor. Kneeling down, she proceeded to re-pack her school bag, as everyone filed out, still laughing. As she glanced up to scowl at them, Libby noticed that one of them was not laughing. As Alec walked beside Marty to next lesson, he glanced back over his shoulder with a strange expression, not disdain, but not quite pity either.

"Libby? You coming?" Asuka touched her arm, making her jump. "We're gonna be late for Art."

"Yeah, I'm coming. Hang on." She grabbed the last few things from the floor, shoved them unceremoniously into the top of her already bulging bag, and followed her to the Art block.

--------------------

Art was Asuka's favourite lesson; she could draw almost anything, from still-life to landscapes to people, but that wasn't why she liked it so much. It was the feeling of peace and tranquillity which accompanied the paintbrush in her hand, or the charcoal on her fingers. It was the only lesson which she really enjoyed, because no-one bothered her. Once again, she and Ryuu sat together in the corner with Libby, while Alec sat across the room from them. This meant that the girls could concentrate on their work without having to keep shushing Ryuu.

"That's so good...how do you do it?" Libby asked Asuka, peering at her work. Today, the class had been given a chance to draw whatever they wanted; Ryuu was drawing a cartoon strip, Libby was painting a lily in watercolour and Asuka was drawing a charcoal sketch of herself. She blushed at Libby's praise and muttered, "...not that good..."

"It's perfect. An exact likeness. I wish I was as good as you," Libby said wistfully, then smiled.

Libby wasn't exaggerating; Asuka had uncanny skill when in came to drawing and sketching. Her picture was like a photograph, but with one difference: she had drawn herself without her eyepatch, her entire face visible and her hands making the Sign of the Dog. In fact, it was a picture of her as she looked when she was using Chakra, training with Sensei.

"Better not show that one to the teachers," Libby warned. Asuka nodded and lifted the picture, revealing another picture underneath it. This one was depicting a vase of flowers, with simple but beautiful shading and reflections.

"That should keep them happy, no?" she said, grinning cheekily.

Asuka's English wasn't as 'good' as Ryuu's, but it was still easily understandable by anyone.

"That should keep them very happy," laughed Libby.

Ryuu looked over at the two girls laughing and smiled in spite of himself at his sister. He liked to see her happy; when she smiled, he smiled. Libby caught him looking and grinned at him. It always amused her, the way Ryuu acted all tough but was actually a very caring person when it came to his sister. Though he pretended not to care what was going on, Libby knew full well that if _anything _happened to Asuka, Ryuu would go mental. Probably kill someone, she reflected. She chuckled.

"What are you laughing at now?" Ryuu asked, but not irritably.

"Nothing," Libby lied, hiding her smile behind her hand and pretending to concentrate on her artwork. Ryuu seemed to accept her lie and glanced away again, colouring in a shaded area of his cartoon.

After a few minutes, Libby felt the strange, prickly feeling of being watched. She looked around and a pair of bright green eyes met hers. Alec was staring at her from his seat across the class, an expression of combined interest and suspicion on his features.

"What?" Libby mouthed at him. He started, as though he hadn't realised he'd been staring, then looked away quickly, turning back to talk to Marty and Josh. Libby frowned, irritated, then carried on painting. About ten minutes later, her thoughts were interrupted again by an angry: "What the hell does _he_ want?"

"What's wrong?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"That creep was staring at my sister," Ryuu muttered, glaring across the room to where Alec was chatting animatedly to his new friends. As Alec laughed and the sound carried across the room to the three in the corner, Ryuu's hand clenched into a fist on top of the table.

"Ryuu, please calm down. He isn't worth it," Asuka protested.

Ryuu growled unintelligibly in response, but carried on with his artwork, admittedly pressing down on his pencil rather harder than was necessary. Libby sighed at Ryuu's behaviour, but despite herself she did agree with him a little. Alec's staring did bother her a bit, but she wasn't as angry about it as Ryuu was. He was looking out for his sister. However, she was unnerved and confused. Earlier on, he'd given them all the cold shoulder and gone off with Ryuu's ex-friend Marty; then he _hadn't _laughed at her when the others had; and now he was staring at them with obvious interest when all of the other students avoided them instinctively.

"Well, let's have a look at what you've drawn." A voice spoke suddenly from behind her, making her jump.

"A water-lily, eh? Very good...you've really improved your painting. Keep it up, Libby!"

"Thank you, Miss," Libby muttered, hunching back over her desk and shooting a look at Asuka, who nodded. When Libby glanced at Asuka's work, she saw that the Japanese girl had already switched the pictures.

The teacher moved around the room, complimenting or instructing each pupil in turn. Ryuu glanced over to see how Alec reacted to the teacher's comment, smirking as Alec scowled and changed something on his drawing.

"He's not an artist, then," Libby commented. She'd also seen Alec's expression.

"Apparently not," Asuka agreed.

All three of them shared a quiet laugh, unnoticed by the rest of the class.

-------------------------------

Libby opened the door to her house and stepped in, dumping her bag on the floor and taking off her school shoes. Her mother would be home in about five minutes with her little brother, Charlie, who had just turned eight. Libby walked into the sitting room, sat on the sofa and turned on the TV. She chose one of the music channels, in the hope that the sounds of Kerrang! would drown out her thoughts of today's madness. However, it wasn't just Alec that plagued her mind. There was also something else that worried her: when her younger brother would discover his Chakra. He still had two years to go before he was at the crucial stage, but that didn't stop her worrying about it.

Blaine's little sister, Megan, who was ten, was kept under close watch by her family, because it wasn't much longer until she would start developing her powers. Blaine's older sister, Jasmine, in her second year of University, became a fully fledged shinobi at the age of eighteen, being twenty now. Her t_aijutsu_ moves were nearly unbeatable and so fast she appeared to be a blur. She could also use certain types of Ninjutsu; Shadow Cloning, the Replacement Technique, the Summoning Technique and her own 'Mind Read' and 'Mind Torture' jutsu. were a few to mention. Libby had watched Jasmine spar against Tatsuya - sensei, their teacher. Although she didn't win, it was the most intense match she had ever watched, and there had been no way to tell who would be victorious.

Suddenly, Libby heard the front door open, and a sound she knew as the noise of a hyper-active eight year old could be heard. The little boy ran into the sitting room, screaming "Ben 10! Ben 10!"

'Oh great...' Libby thought. "Ok, Charlie, I'll put Cartoon Network on for you..." she said belligerently, switching over from a Foo Fighters video.

Indeed, as was routine everyday, Charlie arrived just in time to catch the beginning of 'Ben 10: Alien Force', the programme he was currently obsessed with.

"Yay! It's hero time!" he cried, jumping onto the three-seater sofa. Libby couldn't help but cringe slightly, maybe because all eight year old younger brothers were always embarrassing, no matter what they did. Her thoughts were interrupted by her mother calling for her to help her into the house with Charlie's school bags. After being ordered to take her school bag to her room, Libby went into the kitchen and made some tea.

"Hello, misery," said Libby's mother, giving her a well needed hug. Libby couldn't help but smile at her mother's humour.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, fine..." Libby replied, tiredly.

"Yeah, fine, sure. Have a good day at school?"

"As good as a day at school can get," she replied, pouring boiling water onto the teabag in her mug.

"Well that's surprising," replied her mother, sarcastically. Libby gave small laugh.

"Anything interesting or new happen?"

"Well, if you count a new boy as something interesting, then yeah."

"Ooh, what's his name?"

"Alec Galloway, he's really...weird..." replied Libby.

Her mother smiled. "He sounds handsome, though." she said thoughtfully.

"Oh god, please don't start, mum."

"I'm sorry, I was just saying." The reply was tinged with mock hurt.

"Mum, I've heard nothing _but_ how 'hot' he is,"

Libby's mother laughed at how annoyed her daughter was.

"'Oh my god, his hair's so _hot_', or 'He's so fit!'" started Libby, imitating a dumb 'American Blonde' accent.

"He seems very popular," replied her mother, fighting to hold back giggles.

"Yeah... Oh, my favourite one is when Stacey Pillinger said, (and may I quote): 'He has an arse carved by the gods.'"

At this point Libby's mother almost choked on her tea, but managed to compose herself.

"I swear to god, if I'd stopped walking, I would've laughed right in her face."

"You're not jealous, are you?"

Libby cocked an eyebrow and sipped her tea.

"Why would I be jealous? He's nothing special."

"Hmm... I still wish you'd find a nice boy."

Libby rolled her eyes. "When I find one, I'll let you know,"

"Surely there must be _some_ nice boys in your school?"

"Let me think..." Libby mimed thinking deeply for a moment. "Nope, none at all."

Her mother put a face of slight pity for her daughter.

"Well, none that will talk to me anyway..." Libby continued gloomily, putting her mug in the dishwasher. He mother sighed.

"Come here..."

Libby closed the dishwasher lid and walked to her mum, who took her hands. Libby knew what her mother was going to say, but decided to hear her out anyway.

"One day you'll meet a guy, who'll love you for who _you_ are," she started.

'Yep,' thought Libby, 'It's this talk, again.'

"He'll love you and accept your faults and overlook your powers. It doesn't matter if you've got this power, it just makes you..."

"More special... I know..." finished Libby.

"Good." said her mother, smiling. Libby smiled back and let go of her mother's hands. She turned to walk out of the kitchen, but was interrupted by her mother's next question.

"So, what does this Alec boy look like?"

Libby rolled her eyes once more, and leant on the doorway. "Oh, trust you to ask... Well, he has long-ish black hair, green eyes, quite tall - probably five foot eight. He's not _really _skinny, but not a hulking body builder."

"Shame," said her mother, joking.

"Quiet..." ordered Libby, glaring at her mum, before carrying on. "He's just kinda lean, but strong. Um... Oh yeah, he has a scar on his face, near the end of his eyebrow," she finished, indicating to the place where Alec's scar was.

"Ouch, he must've had a piercing that went wrong."

"Maybe he has a vicious cat," suggested Libby.

"Sweetie, it must be a lion to give him a scar like that."

Libby shivered slightly, she could only imagine the pain that he must have experienced to give him that scar. "Hmm..."

"Maybe it got infected. All boys think they're invincible."

"Oh, ain't that true..."

Her mother smirked. "Your father used to have an eyebrow piercing back when he was your age."

Libby raised her eyebrows. "Really? He never seemed the type to have a piercing."

"Well, he did. He used to think he was 'well hard'."

Libby looked at her mother in shock, then snorted and burst out laughing. Her mother looked at her in confusion. "What is it?"

Walking over to her mum, Libby gave her a hug, still laughing. "Mum, I love you. But, please...never say that again. Ever."

Her mother joined in laughing, and kissed the top of her daughter's head, affectionately.

"I love you, too," she replied.

---------------------

"_Pass the salt, 'Suka_."

Asuka passed the salt shaker to her brother, who muttered "_Arigatō_," in thanks.

"_Dōmo_," she replied, nodding graciously.

"_So_," said Yamato, their father. "_How are you finding school at the moment_?"

"_There's a new kid_," Ryuu started. "_And he's a_-"

Asuka elbowed him hard in the ribs, making him stop and glance at her. "_What_?"

She stared reprovingly at him, this time with both her eyes showing, while their parents looked at them, confused. "_He's a what_?" their mother, Ayako, asked.

"_Nothing. He's...strange, that's all. Right, Ryuu_?" Asuka looked at Ryuu, who conceded defeat and nodded. "_Yeah, that's all_." He stopped in the act of making an obscene hand gesture under the table, watchful of his sister's Byakugan eye; it could see through anything.

"_Well? What's he like? Apart from strange, I mean_."

Ryuu nodded meaningfully at Asuka; he didn't want to talk about Alec. Asuka sighed. "_He's tall, but a little shorter than Blaine, with black hair and...um...green eyes. He's got a scar, across his left eyebrow_."

"_Uh huh_," Ayako nodded, "_Sounds interesting_."

"_He's weird_," Ryuu blurted out, before he could stop himself.

Yamato raised an eyebrow at his son. "_Weird? What do you call yourselves then_?" He gestured at them both.

"_That's different. We can't help having our powers, can we_?"

"_Well maybe he can't help being weird. You shouldn't judge people like that_."

"_They do_..." Ryuu grumbled. "_Besides, it's not like I wasn't trying to be nice. He just_..."

"_Just what_?"

Ryuu mumbled something indistinct. Yamato frowned and leaned forwards. "_What was that_?"

"_Nothing_," Ryuu muttered, then under his breath added, "_Fucking deaf_."

"_What did you say to me_?!" Yamato stared at his son with shock and anger.

"_Please don't fight_..." Asuka whispered, her eyes wide and her face pale. Her mother nodded and laid a calming hand on Yamato's arm. Both females were ignored.

"_Get to your room. __**Now**__._" Yamato ordered Ryuu out of the room, pointing his fist upstairs.

"_Fine. Whatever_." Ryuu replied, pushing back his chair violently, and walking towards the door.

"_Don't talk to me like that! How dare you_!"

"_Like what? You never listen to me anyway_." The teenager said, turning round to face his father, before storming out of the room. Hearing his bedroom door slam shut, Asuka sighed and stared fixedly at the tablecloth. She sensed her father getting up and leaving the room, but didn't look up. Ayako got up from the table and put an arm around Asuka's shoulders. The girl looked up into her mother's eyes and saw her own feelings reflected in them. Ryuu and Yamato were always fighting; they couldn't seem to go one day without arguing.

--------------------

"Dad?"

Julie wandered into his office, after knocking for nearly five minutes solid. Looking around, she noticed that his desk was clear; something that rarely ever happened. Also, his laptop had gone from its alcove. Something was odd here.

Going back out to the hall, she grabbed the wireless phone from its cradle and dialled the familiar number. "Come on..." she muttered as she paced the hall.

"Hello?" came her father's voice. He sounded tired and irritated.

"It's me. Why aren't you here?"

"Uhh, something big came up. I'll make it up to you, I promise!"

Julie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right, sure. What can be so earth-shatteringly important that you'd rescind a promise to your daughter?"

He hesitated. "Important work stuff, darling. I'm so sorry. I promise you, I _will_ make it up to you. Whatever you want to do, we'll do it."

"I _want_ to see you! Do you think you could possibly fit that into your schedule?"

"I'll be back by the weekend," he replied, apologetically.

"Okay. See you then."

"Bye, love. I'll see you soon."

Julie hung up the phone and leaned against the wall, fighting back an urge to hit something. She'd actually thought that she'd be able to see her father this week, but _no_, something always 'came up'.

The house was far too big for her alone; she was in the house by herself until 7pm. That's when her mother came back from work, and could make dinner, and until then she loafed around, did whatever homework was needed and went on her laptop. Sometimes she wished that she could see her parents properly, instead of a quick visit. That's what parents are supposed to do: look after you, love you and be with you all the time; she couldn't understand people who couldn't wait to get away from their parents. Then again it was probably because she hardly saw her parents anymore. Walking back down the corridor, she thought of the perfect way to get out her anger: _training_. Running upstairs she changed into her tracksuit and headed for the basement. She reached the room she was heading for and typed in the combination which opened the doors.

Inside was a large, square room with no windows and walls reinforced with sheet steel and concrete. On a rack which filled one wall were shelves of weapons: _kunai _knives, _shuriken_, poles, swords and a bow, with a quiver full of arrows. This training, however, did not require weapons.

Julie looked to the 3 punching bags hanging from the walls. She tied back her long blonde hair, wrapped bandages around her hands and wrists and slipped on fingerless boxing gloves. Stepping forwards, she proceeded to lay into it with all her strength, releasing her anger and working her muscles at the same time.

Half an hour later, the punching bags had been reduced to smithereens, but Julie felt only a little better. She flexed her fingers, pleased to see she hadn't lost her edge after a couple of weeks with no training. She flopped to the floor and leant against the wall, placing her head in between her knees, and took a couple of deep breathes. Trying to calm her nerves, trying to soothe her anger, but it wasn't working. She whimpered, then tears started to fall.

"Fuck!" she screamed, turning and hitting the wall behind her. It didn't dent. That's why it was concrete and steel reinforced. Her fist throbbed with pain and she rubbed it to calm down the enraged hurt. She looked into the middle of the room and pictured herself and her father standing there. She was just eleven, a little dirty-blonde girl with piercing blue eyes, looking up at her father, who was helping her with her training.

_"Come on Julie! You can do it!"_

_The little girl was punching a bag hanging from the ceiling. This was a comical sight for any normal person to see, but her father was proud of how much she had come on, since she had first started. Julie started making hand signs and felt her Chakra rush through her. She gave the punch bag one last kick, splitting it. Her father clapped and gave her a hug._

_"Well done!"_

_"I did it! I did it!" the eleven year old squealed_

_"I know, I saw,"_

_"I did it!" she repeated, almost wonderingly. _

_Julie's father smiled lovingly at his daughter, and kissed the top of her head. "I can see you're going to be just like I was."_

_"Really? What were you like?" she asked_

_"What was I like? I kicked everyone's butt, of course!" he said, tickling her daughter. Julie giggled and squirmed in his arms_

_"Do you think I'll be stronger than Blaine?" she asked, hopefully. _

_"I_ know_ you'll be stronger than Blaine." he replied_

The memory left her head, as she rose from the floor. 'Stronger than Blaine, huh?' she thought. 'I can't even beat Libby...'

Julie walked out the room, deciding a hot shower would calm her. It always did.

------------------

A little girl sat on her sofa looking out the window of the barn conversion she was living in, keeping a look out for any movement outside. It was 8pm and her sister, who was arriving home from University, was an hour late. They hadn't seen her in over a year, due to her inability to get down from Lancashire.

"She isn't here yet..." said the girl disappointedly

"Well, Megan honey, if you keep watching the window she won't arrive," replied her mother

"Aw..."

"Hey, Megan." said her brother.

"Huh?"

"Why don't you get changed? You're still in your school uniform." he suggested.

"But Blaine!" she cried. "I don't wanna miss even a second of seeing Jasmine."

"Megan, she's staying all week, it's okay if you miss a couple of minutes when she arrives."

The little girl sighed, clearly upset.

"Okay then..."

The ten year old, wandered up the stairs to her bedroom and shut the door.

"Honey?" asked Blaine's mother

"Yes, love?" replied her husband, looking up from his newspaper

"Have you noticed anything with Megan yet?"

He shook his head, depreciatively. Ever since the little girl turned ten she has been watched like a hawk, it was about now that her powers should've shown through. But nothing was coming and it was starting to worry everybody, not just her mother. However, they always did this in secret, and never tried to make her feel pressured. After all, it wasn't her fault that it taking a long time to develop her powers.

"Mum, maybe it's just taking longer. We're all different." said Blaine, trying to sound reasonable.

"Yes, I guess. It's just that Jasmine's and your abilities came through just a month after your tenth birthday's and it's six months on for Megan and nothing's happening."

"You know what they say. The last flower to bloom is the biggest and most beautiful of all." said her husband, meriting a smile from the worried mother.

"Just give her some time, the case might be that nothing will come until she's eleven," he added.

"And then she'll stop going about wanting Jasmine to teach her some techniques..." said Blaine.

"Don't be so harsh on your sister, Blaine." said his mother in a stern tone. "It's good that she's taking such an interest, before she's even started training. Don't dishearten her."

Blaine just simply nodded, and made a noise in agreement.

"What...what if she doesn't develop her Chakra?" began his mother again.

"Don't be silly, of course she will. Two of our children have, the odds are very high that our third one will too."

There was suddenly a knock on the door, and all three turned their heads.

"That's probably her!" said Blaine, excitedly. He ran to the door, and opened it. There stood a girl with dark brown hair which was streaked with purple. She was nearly as tall as Blaine (but much thinner), with hazel brown eyes containing flickers of bright green in. True to his thoughts, his twenty year old sister stood at the door, her bags in hand and a wide smile on her face.

"Hey! I'm home!" she announced.

Both her parents were stood at the sitting room doorway looking at their daughter with happiness and pride. Jasmine put her bags on the floor and hugged her younger brother, then ran over and gave her parents a huge hug, happy that she was finally home.

"JASMINE!!" The overjoyed cry of a little girl rang through the house.

She turned around and saw her younger sister, in awe at the top of the stairs. "Megan!" she exclaimed, holding her arms out. The ten year old ran down the stairs at an alarming rate and jumped into the hug, nearly knocking her sister over.

"Okay, come on, guys. Dinner's ready!" said her mum.

"Ooo... just in time!" said Jasmine, cheekily. The younger girl shared a giggle with her sister.

The family were sat at the table having a fun discussion about anything that came to mind. Obviously Jasmine's life at the University was discussed. She was in the stages of arranging a date with a guy who was on her Forensic Psychology course. Apparently he was a very good looking guy, from Liverpool, called Caleb Addison. Jasmine was excited because she had finally met a guy who was a decent height taller than her. Everybody laughed at her reasoning, but Jasmine looked slightly hurt.

"Well, it's alright for the guy if he's tall," said Jasmine, clearly ticked off

"How come?" asked Megan.

Jasmine smiled. "Because tall guys always like the short girls," she replied.

"That's stupid," Megan stated bluntly.

"Ain't it just? If you're a tall woman then it's extra hard to find a guy, because the guys don't like to be seen as 'over-powered' by the woman. I learned that in my Psychology course," explained Jasmine.

Megan looked slightly disheartened. Even though she was only ten, she was the second tallest in her class. It seemed she too had inherited the 'tall' gene from her parents. "That means it's gonna be hard for me to find a boy then, doesn't it..." she said, looking down at her empty dinner plate.

Jasmine frowned sympathetically at her little sister. At secondary school she had been made fun of for being taller than everybody, skinny and flat-chested. People had called her 'anorexic' and 'unsexy', and it had really upset her.

"Of course not, Megan!" said her mother.

"Look at it this way, Meg: if you're going to be anything like me, you're going to have a great figure for the rest of you life. You won't suffer from 'thunder-thighs' or a flabby tummy," Jasmine reassured her. Megan looked up and smiled at her sister.

"Plus, you'll know that a guy isn't using you for your cup size..."

Her father coughed. "Yes, well I think that's enough of that for now."

Megan looked at her sister confused, but Jasmin gave the girl a look that said 'Don't say anything', so she didn't.

"Yeah, well... So Blaine, whatcha' been doing, since I last saw you?" asked Jasmine.

Blaine just smiled. "Nothing much really, same old, same old."

"Well, you're very talkative tonight. How's Sensei?"

"Yeah, he's doing good. We've got a lesson with him tomorrow, at six."

"Awesome! Can I go? I haven't seen him for like a year."

"Sure, he's been asking how you're doing constantly."

Jasmine, gave a small laugh. "Well, that's hardly surprising since I _am_ his favourite student," she said proudly.

"Hey, don't get too cocky, you haven't had lessons with him in two years."

"Oh really? Who's the new favourite then?" she asked, curiously.

"I dunno really."

This warranted a laugh from his older sister.

"He sees a lot of potential in Asuka..." he said, hesitantly.

"Oh? The little Japanese girl?"

"Yeah, with the Byakugan."

Jasmine smiled. "She's really sweet that girl... Shy, but really sweet. She has a brother, doesn't she?"

"Yeah, Ryuu..."

"How's he doing? Last time I heard about him, stuff was...happening..." she asked, picking her words carefully.

"He's better now, but still the same Ryuu..." said Blaine, sounding disappointed.

Megan, once again looked confused at her siblings. "What? What happened to Ryuu?" she asked.

Blaine and Jasmine flinched at that question, as did their parents. It was just a perfectly innocent question, but the answer was unsuitable for a child of Megan's age to hear. That was at best; at worst, it was downright disturbing. Being eight at the time she would never have understood what had happened, so she was never told, even at ten it was something you wouldn't tell a child.

"It's not something that we talk about anymore." said her mother in a serious tone.

"Right, kids?" said their father, gesturing to the two elder siblings.

"Yeah, sorry..." said Blaine and Jasmine, apologetically.

"Good..." said their father

"Anyway, let's get this table cleared! Then we can go to the sitting room..." started their mother.

"Can I stay up a little later?!" asked Megan, excitedly.

Her mother looked at the clock, and saw it was nearly nine o'clock, her bedtime. She then looked at her husband, who nodded in agreement.

"Hmm... Ok, then..."

"Yay!" cried Megan excitedly.

"But, only half an hour. You've got school tomorrow."

Although she was slightly disappointed by the short thirty minute extension, she knew from experience that she wouldn't get that treat very often. She decided to make the best of it and didn't complain. After a short game on the 'Wii' against her older siblings, Megan was exhausted and so went up to bed anyway. As soon as she closed her bedroom door, a private conversation started.

"I'm really sorry about bringing 'that' up..." started Jasmine, referring to the conversation about Ryuu.

"It's okay, honey, you didn't know..." replied her mother, understandingly.

"No, I really shouldn't have even mentioned it in front of Megan."

"Well... I don't think that Megan's too worried about it really." started her father. "She's just inquisitive about everything."

Jasmine sighed. Now that she had brought it up, it worried her. "I know what happened back then, but how's everything now?" she asked.

Her mother gave a sad sigh. "I don't really know, we don't talk about that kind of thing, especially after all this time."

"Yeah..." muttered Jasmine.

"I don't think Ryuu's father ever got over the shock of being called to the hospital and seeing his only son in casualty. I know I wouldn't, especially after what that kid was doing behind his whole family's back," said their father.

Jasmine looked to her younger brother, who was sat on the sofa, looking rather thoughtful.

"What's on your mind?" asked Jasmine.

Blaine smirked. "You read minds, you should know," he said, jokingly.

Jasmine gave a small laugh. "You're my brother, I don't need to 'mind read' you," she said.

Blaine chuckled, then reverted back to his original thoughtful state. "It's just... It's just I never expected it..." he said.

"I don't think anyone did, Blaine." she replied

"I keep thinking today, that there was something that we could've done earlier..."

"You can always think that... But what's done is done, we have to move on, and look to the future," Jasmine replied, philosophically.

"Pfft, some kind of future Ryuu has..." Blaine muttered.

Jasmine frowned. "What does that mean?"

Her mother sighed. "From what I've heard, he still has problems at school. His behaviour's terrible, and he's really difficult at home as well..." she explained.

Jasmin raised her eyebrows. "Poor guy... I wonder how Asuka copes...."

Blaine snorted. "I wonder that too. Then again, she and Ryuu are ridiculously close... Actually, scrap that. Ryuu's ridiculously over-protective of Asuka," he said.

Jasmine shook her head. "Poor girl..."

"We still worry about her... She's so thin, and before all this happened, she used to be really healthy."

"It's probably the stress from everything, people can lose a lot of weight due to stress," replied Jasmine.

Blaine gave a non committal grunt and Jasmine yawned. "Jesus...I'm tired..."

"You off to bed then?" asked her mother.

"I probably should, or I'll be half dead tomorrow."

"Plus you wont be able to see Sensei tomorrow, if you're too tired," teased Blaine, smirking.

"Hah, don't push it. I'm gonna see him, no matter how tired I am." Jasmine rose from her seat, and took her bags to the guest room. Stopping on the way to look at all the photos on the walls, she stepped as quietly as she could so as not to wake Megan.

----------------------

Asuka walked into Ryuu's room, after leaving him an hour to cool off. However, when she got a proper look around the room, she nearly hyperventilated. He wasn't there. The window was wide open and his curtains were blowing in the breeze. She put her head in her hands and groaned. If Ryuu had disappeared...

She walked in and was slightly comforted when she detected the smell of cigarette smoke leaking into the room. He must be on the roof smoking, which was unusual. Normally he just smoked by the window.

"_Ryuu_?" she asked quietly. She walked to the window and could see her brother out on the roof, smoke rising and disappearing into the night sky. She jumped on the roof, and called Ryuu's name again. He turned around and gave her an affectionate smile.

"_Hey_," he replied.

Asuka just smiled and sat next to him. "_How are you, now_?" she asked.

"_Good_..." he replied, blowing a cloud of smoke from his mouth

There was a silence.

"_You_?" he asked.

"_I'm okay_."

Again there was another short pause, as Ryuu took a drag from his cigarette and blew the smoke into the air. "_Look if dad sent you_..."

"_No, he didn't_." interrupted Asuka, so quickly it surprised Ryuu slightly. "_It's just_..." she started.

Ryuu looked at her, expectantly. "_Just what_?"

"_Why did you have to do that? At dinner_?" asked Asuka, clearly upset.

Ryuu just sighed, and started to feel very uncomfortable. He should've seen this coming. "_Well_..."

"_Well, what_?"

Ryuu paused, with a pained look on his face. "_I'm sorry_..." he apologised.

Asuka looked away from him. "_You always say that and you never mean it_..."

Ryuu suddenly felt very disheartened. He stubbed out his cigarette fully and turned to Asuka. "_Well, want do you want me to say? What __**can**__ I say that will make everything better_?" he said, sounding annoyed.

"_It's not what you say, it's what you do_."

Ryuu groaned; he knew he was in deep trouble.

"_And why do you have to be so mean to that Alec kid_?" she asked.

"_Because he gives me the creeps_." replied Ryuu.

"_I sense something about him too, but I don't feel the need to hit him_."

Ryuu didn't reply; instead he changed the subject. "_You hardly ate at dinner, tonight_."

Asuka looked at her brother with annoyance. "_Don't change the subject_!"

"_I was just saying_..."

"_Yeah well, for your information, I wasn't hungry_," she said, defensively.

"_Yeah, the amount of times you've said that...Look at you, you're wasting away to nothing_!"

"_It's not my fault I'm not hungry_," she muttered evasively.

"_Not hungry, yeah, okay_..." Ryuu muttered, sarcastically.

"_Stop it! It's nothing, alright? So drop it_!"

Ryuu stared at his sister, taken aback; she never got angry. Asuka stared back, her expression daring him to comment. He dropped his gaze and muttered, "_Sorry_."

"_Okay_," she said shortly. Then, her expression softened again. "_I'm sorry too. I shouldn't be lecturing you like this_."

"_No, you're right_." Ryuu turned to look at her. "_I'm sorry I lectured you as well, it's none of my business_."

Ryuu shivered as a slight cold breeze went by. Asuka seemed unaffected, then again she was wearing a massively oversized jumper, that hung limply across her tiny frame. He never understood why she wore those kind of jumpers. He knew she was thin, she's of Japanese inheritance, many Japanese woman were 'short' with small, petit figures. It's a fact, so why did she never flaunt it? Julie and Libby were always annoyed at how thin she was.

"_What's the time_?" asked Asuka, suddenly

"_I don't know, it's pretty dark though_." replied her brother

Asuka grunted, still clearly upset.

"_Look, I know you annoyed with me, I get it. But please, can you drop it_?"

Asuka looked at Ryuu, with offence in her eyes.

"_I know that look_." said Ryuu, Asuka having to say nothing.

"_I know you do, we're twins_..." she replied

Ryuu smirked.

"_Exactly. Surely you can find it in your heart to forgive your twin brother_," he said

Asuka looked in his eyes, and sighed, she always gave in too easily. She gave him a hug, and unintentionally breathed in the smell of stale smoke, from her brother's jumper, that she found so oddly comforting. Ryuu returned the hug and rested his chin on his sister head, and he smiled to himself. He always thought where he would be without her.

Breaking the hug, Asuka said

"_Hey, should we go in_?"

Ryuu just nodded in agreement and the two jumped back into the house. Bidding her brother goodnight, Asuka retired to her own room, leaving Ryuu to get ready for bed. Later that night, they both tossed and turned, trying to sleep, but found their heads full of worry.

Asuka was anxious about the way her brother was behaving; it reminded her so much of before, when... "_No_," she whispered.

She didn't want to think about that.

------------------

**ChasingtheLight: Heya! It's ChasingtheLight hope you enjoy the chapter!! Please R&R, please no flaming, please constructive critisims. Ta Muchly :)**

**666-hyuuga-neji-999: Herow ^ ^ , here's 666-hyuuga-neji-999, see above comments XD. Thankies! Also, storyline and characters are original and owned by us, please no takey! :- D**

**ChasingtheLight: Otherwise we'll set the 'au'bergines on you : (**

**666-hyuuga-neji-999: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! Not the 'au'bergines! I'll fight them with my army of 'o'bergines!**

**ChasingtheLight: _ Don't you mean 'au'bergines?**

**666-hyuuga-neji-999: *Strange gaze upon ChasingtheLight* Uh... No...**

**ChasingtheLight: o O**

**666-hyuuga-neji-999: Anyway...**

**ChasingtheLight: Yes, just to say this Story currently has no title...**

**666-hyuuga-neji-999: Because we're that uninspired...**

**ChasingtheLight: And we've co-written this story, this is the first story I've co-written, and it's the first Naruto fanfiction I've written as well...**

**666-hyuuga-neji-999: ChasingtheLight has come up mainly with the plot...**

**ChasingtheLight: But I've had 666-hyuuga-neji-999 there to wave her magical writing wand and make all the spelling and gramatical mistakes disappear and come up with awesome idea's and take some of the burden off the writing ^ ^.**

**666-hyuuga-neji-999: Always happy to help :P**

**ChasingtheLight: The idea came, when I was searching through the Naruto fanfics and realised that there wasn't a story set in our time with completely original characters (well any I could find)... So...**

**666-hyuuga-neji-999: So I had ChasingtheLight come to me over MSN, and say 'Hey! Wanna write a Naruto fanfic?'**

**ChasingtheLight: Of course my good friend happily obliged :P**

**666-hyuuga-neji-999: hehe... This story's gonna get a little dark...**

**ChasingtheLight: A little understatement... In other words I don't think this gonna stay a T rated fic for long, it's probably gonna move to an M.**

**666-hyuuga-neji-999: Anyway, enough talking! More reviewing! We have the next chapter written, it just needs to be typed and amended :P**

**ChasingtheLight: Oh and BTW, the bits in Italic are when they're talking in Japanese :) Just thought I'd mention it.**

**666-hyuuga-neji-999: Indeed...**

**ChasingtheLight: AND!! Go read 666-hyuuga-neji-999's Ten Ten/Neji fic, it's very good.**

**666-hyuuga-neji-999&ChasingtheLight: Goodbye!!**


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